A comment on walleye, which in my humble view is over worshipped by my friendly Minnesotan friends. It is tasty, but I'm telling you it is no better than Northern Pike. The major malfunction with Pike is most people's struggle to remove the Y bone properly. This is why it is very rarely seen on a restaurant menu. I would concede, northern pike tastes better (much like walleye) in the proper size, and the colder the water the better. We talk about this all the time in Canada, and love demoing this with newbies who are convinced that walleye is the only fish worth eating.
For instance, the 'slot' in much of Canada is 16.1-22, you have to release every fish in the slot, then follow bag limit for above or below. I would offer that walleye in the 22+ camp is not that good, and probably the reason I don't enjoy the Lake Erie walleye which is often sold in the Indy area, as those filets are 'too big', the fish isn't worth it for the price it commands. Same vibe with Northern Pike, I'd never choose to eat one outside the slot on the 'big' side, that's why I release all Pike from the bottom end of the 'slot' all the way up. Keep the ones for shore lunch, or later freezing.
I'd also say bluegill is a great freshwater eating fish, but like hell am I going to catch, clean and prepare the 35 or more necessary for a meal. I do wait until I know our local fish guys are going to have them, and they do a nice sale on bulk packages of bluegill.
one thing I never understood is why virtually nobody eats (freshwater) bass in the north. It was only until I was served some tasty small mouth (here in Kentuckiana/Tennessee region have I seen, that 'oh, this actually can be tasty.' I attribute it to water temps/diets and other genetic reasons, or us northerners just like our perch, crappie, trout, whitefish and walleye that much that bass gets crowded out. I mean, nobody is eating small/large/rock bass in the north. Is there a pocket somewhere in Michigan that I don't know about that does?
